city of night

winds shriek
up dark alleys
rattling cans,
swirling trash,
city of sleeplessness,
of fevered dreams,
of locked doors
and shuttered windows,
city of lost souls
wandering aimless,
sleeping on benches,
crying softly in despair,
city of broken lives,
under streetlamps,
in open doorways,
smoky bars
and all-night diners,
city of sorrows,
of the woebegone
and mournful
who whimper
like beaten dogs
in shadow until
the first gold
light of dawn